Definition of Interest tax shield

Interest tax shield

The reduction in income taxes that results from the tax-deductibility of interest payments.

interest tax shield

tax savings resulting from deductibility of interest payments.

trade-off theory

Debt levels are chosen to balance interest tax shields against the costs of financial distress.

fractional interest discount

the combined discounts for lack of control and marketability. g the constant growth rate in cash flows or net income used in the ADF, Gordon model, or present value factor.

Accrued interest

The accumulated coupon interest earned but not yet paid to the seller of a bond by the
buyer (unless the bond is in default).

After-tax profit margin

The ratio of net income to net sales.

After-tax real rate of return

Money after-tax rate of return minus the inflation rate.

Amortizing interest rate swap

Swap in which the principal or national amount rises (falls) as interest rates
rise (decline).

Asymmetric taxes

A situation wherein participants in a transaction have different net tax rates.

Average tax rate

taxes as a fraction of income; total taxes divided by total taxable income.

Base interest rate

Related: Benchmark interest rate.

Before-tax profit margin

The ratio of net income before taxes to net sales.

Benchmark interest rate

Also called the base interest rate, it is the minimum interest rate investors will
demand for investing in a non-Treasury security. It is also tied to the yield to maturity offered on a
comparable-maturity Treasury security that was most recently issued ("on-the-run").

Best-interests-of-creditors test

The requirement that a claim holder voting against a plan of reorganization
must receive at least as much as he would have if the debtor were liquidated.

Break-even tax rate

The tax rate at which a party to a prospective transaction is indifferent between entering
into and not entering into the transaction.

Capitalized interest

interest that is not immediately expensed, but rather is considered as an asset and is then
amortized through the income statement over time.

Cash flow after interest and taxes

Net income plus depreciation.

Compound interest

interest paid on previously earned interest as well as on the principal.

Corporate tax view

The argument that double (corporate and individual) taxation of equity returns makes
debt a cheaper financing method.

Corporate taxable equivalent

Rate of return required on a par bond to produce the same after-tax yield to
maturity that the premium or discount bond quoted would.

Covered interest arbitrage

A portfolio manager invests dollars in an instrument denominated in a foreign
currency and hedges his resulting foreign exchange risk by selling the proceeds of the investment forward for
dollars.

Deferred taxes

A non-cash expense that provides a source of free cash flow. Amount allocated during the
period to cover tax liabilities that have not yet been paid.

Depreciation tax shield

The value of the tax write-off on depreciation of plant and equipment.

Double-tax agreement

Agreement between two countries that taxes paid abroad can be offset against
domestic taxes levied on foreign dividends.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)

A financial measure defined as revenues less cost of goods sold
and selling, general, and administrative expenses. In other words, operating and non-operating profit before
the deduction of interest and income taxes.

Effective annual interest rate

An annual measure of the time value of money that fully reflects the effects of
compounding.

Equilibrium rate of interest

The interest rate that clears the market. Also called the market-clearing interest
rate.

Equivalent taxable yield

The yield that must be offered on a taxable bond issue to give the same after-tax
yield as a tax-exempt issue.

Foreign tax credit

Home country credit against domestic income tax for foreign taxes paid on foreign
derived earnings.

Forward interest rate

interest rate fixed today on a loan to be made at some future date.

Gross interest

interest earned before taxes are deducted.

Imputation tax system

Arrangement by which investors who receive a dividend also receive a tax credit for
corporate taxes that the firm has paid.

Interest

The price paid for borrowing money. It is expressed as a percentage rate over a period of time and
reflects the rate of exchange of present consumption for future consumption. Also, a share or title in property.

Interest coverage ratio

The ratio of the earnings before interest and taxes to the annual interest expense. This
ratio measures a firm's ability to pay interest.

Interest coverage test

A debt limitation that prohibits the issuance of additional long-term debt if the issuer's
interest coverage would, as a result of the issue, fall below some specified minimum.

Interest equalization tax

tax on foreign investment by residents of the U.S. which was abolished in 1974.

Interest payments

Contractual debt payments based on the coupon rate of interest and the principal amount.

Interest on interest

interest earned on reinvestment of each interest payment on money invested.
See: compound interest.

Interest-only strip (IO)

A security based solely on the interest payments form a pool of mortgages, Treasury
bonds, or other bonds. Once the principal on the mortgages or bonds has been repaid, interest payments stop
and the value of the IO falls to zero.

Interest rate agreement

An agreement whereby one party, for an upfront premium, agrees to compensate the
other at specific time periods if a designated interest rate (the reference rate) is different from a predetermined
level (the strike rate).

Interest rate cap

Also called an interest rate ceiling, an interest rate agreement in which payments are made
when the reference rate exceeds the strike rate.

Interest rate ceiling

Related: interest rate cap.

Interest rate floor

An interest rate agreement in which payments are made when the reference rate falls
below the strike rate.

Interest rate on debt

The firm's cost of debt capital.

Interest rate parity theorem

interest rate differential between two countries is equal to the difference
between the forward foreign exchange rate and the spot rate.

Interest rate risk

The risk that a security's value changes due to a change in interest rates. For example, a
bond's price drops as interest rates rise. For a depository institution, also called funding risk, the risk that
spread income will suffer because of a change in interest rates.

Interest rate swap

A binding agreement between counterparties to exchange periodic interest payments on
some predetermined dollar principal, which is called the notional principal amount. For example, one party
will pay fixed and receive variable.

Interest subsidy

A firm's deduction of the interest payments on its debt from its earnings before it calculates
its tax bill under current tax law.

Investment tax credit

Proportion of new capital investment that can be used to reduce a company's tax bill
(abolished in 1986).

Limited-tax general obligation bond

A general obligation bond that is limited as to revenue sources.

Marginal tax rate

The tax rate that would have to be paid on any additional dollars of taxable income earned.

Nominal interest rate

The interest rate unadjusted for inflation.

Open interest

The total number of derivative contracts traded that not yet been liquidated either by an
offsetting derivative transaction or by delivery. Related: liquidation

Personal tax view (of capital structure)

The argument that the difference in personal tax rates between
income from debt and income from equity eliminates the disadvantage from the double taxation (corporate
and personal) of income from equity.

Pooling of interests

An accounting method for reporting acquisitions accomplished through the use of equity.
The combined assets of the merged entity are consolidated using book value, as opposed to the purchase
method, which uses market value. The merging entities' financial results are combined as though the two
entities have always been a single entity.

Progressive tax system

A tax system wherein the average tax rate increases for some increases in income but
never decreases with an increase in income.

Rate of interest

The rate, as a proportion of the principal, at which interest is computed.

Real interest rate

The rate of interest excluding the effect of inflation; that is, the rate that is earned in terms
of constant-purchasing-power dollars. interest rate expressed in terms of real goods, i.e. nominal interest rate
adjusted for inflation.

Short interest

This is the total number of shares of a security that investors have borrowed, then sold in the
hope that the security will fall in value. An investor then buys back the shares and pockets the difference as profit.

Short-term tax exempts

Short-term securities issued by states, municipalities, local housing agencies, and
urban renewal agencies.

Simple interest

interest calculated only on the initial investment. Related:compound interest.

Split-rate tax system

A tax system that taxes retained earnings at a higher rate than earnings that are
distributed as dividends.

Spot interest rate

interest rate fixed today on a loan that is made today. Related: forward interest rates.

Stated annual interest rate

The interest rate expressed as a per annum percentage, by which interest
payment is determined.

TANs (tax anticipation notes)

tax anticipation notes issued by states or municipalities to finance current
operations in anticipation of future tax receipts.

Tax anticipation bills (TABs)

Special bills that the Treasury occasionally issues that mature on corporate
quarterly income tax dates and can be used at face value by corporations to pay their tax liabilities.

Tax books

Set of books kept by a firm's management for the IRS that follows IRS rules. The stockholder's
books follow Financial Accounting Standards Board rules.

Tax clawback agreement

An agreement to contribute as equity to a project the value of all previously
realized project-related tax benefits not already clawed back to the extent required to cover any cash
deficiency of the project.

Tax differential view ( of dividend policy)

The view that shareholders prefer capital gains over dividends,
and hence low payout ratios, because capital gains are effectively taxed at lower rates than dividends.

Tax-exempt sector

The municipal bond market where state and local governments raise funds. Bonds issued
in this sector are exempt from federal income taxes.

Tax free acquisition

A merger or consolidation in which 1) the acquirer's tax basis in each asset whose
ownership is transferred in the transaction is generally the same as the acquiree's, and 2) each seller who
receives only stock does not have to pay any tax on the gain he realizes until the shares are sold.

Tax haven

A nation with a moderate level of taxation and/or liberal tax incentives for undertaking specific
activities such as exporting or investing.

Tax Reform Act of 1986

A 1986 law involving a major overhaul of the U.S. tax code.

Tax shield

The reduction in income taxes that results from taking an allowable deduction from taxable income.

Tax swap

Swapping two similar bonds to receive a tax benefit.

Tax deferral option

The feature of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code that the capital gains tax on an asset is
payable only when the gain is realized by selling the asset.

Tax-deferred retirement plans

Employer-sponsored and other plans that allow contributions and earnings to
be made and accumulate tax-free until they are paid out as benefits.

Tax-timing option

The option to sell an asset and claim a loss for tax purposes or not to sell the asset and
defer the capital gains tax.

Taxable acquisition

A merger or consolidation that is not a tax-fee acquisition. The selling shareholders are
treated as having sold their shares.

Taxable income

Gross income less a set of deductions.

Taxable transaction

Any transaction that is not tax-free to the parties involved, such as a taxable acquisition.

Times-interest-earned ratio

Earnings before interest and tax, divided by interest payments.

True interest cost

For a security such as commercial paper that is sold on a discount basis, the coupon rate
required to provide an identical return assuming a coupon-bearing instrument of like maturity that pays
interest in arrears.

Two-tier tax system

A method of taxation in which the income going to shareholders is taxed twice.

Value-added tax

Method of indirect taxation whereby a tax is levied at each stage of production on the value
added at that specific stage.

Withholding tax

A tax levied by a country of source on income paid, usually on dividends remitted to the
home country of the firm operating in a foreign country. tax levied on dividends paid abroad.

INCOME TAX

What the business paid to the IRS.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)

The operating profit before deducting interest and tax.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)

The operating profit before deducting interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.

Interest

The cost of money, received on investments or paid on borrowings.

Profit before interest and taxes (PBIT)

See EBIT.

Interest income

Income that a company receives in the form of interest, usually as the result of keeping money in interest-bearing accounts at financial institutions and the lending of money to other companies.

Interest payable

The amount of interest that is owed but has not been paid at the end of a period.

Payroll tax expense

The amount of tax associated with salaries that an employer pays to governments (federal, state, and local).

Payroll taxes payable

The amount of payroll taxes owed to the various governments at the end of a period.

earnings before interest and income tax (EBIT)

A measure of profit that
equals sales revenue for the period minus cost-of-goods-sold expense
and all operating expenses—but before deducting interest and income
tax expenses. It is a measure of the operating profit of a business before
considering the cost of its debt capital and income tax.

times interest earned

A ratio that tests the ability of a business to make
interest payments on its debt, which is calculated by dividing annual
earnings before interest and income tax by the interest expense for the
year. There is no particular rule for this ratio, such as 3 or 4 times, but
obviously the ratio should be higher than 1.

Accrued Interest

The amount of interest accumulated on a debt security between
interest paying dates

Compound Interest

interest paid on principal and on interest earned in previous
periods

Effective Interest Rate

The rate of interest actually earned on an investment. It is
calculated as the ratio of the total amount of interest actually
earned for one year divided by the amount of the principal.

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